Tokyo cops nab ad chief in online sale of fake Viagra

TOKYO (TR) – Tokyo Metropolitan Police have arrested the head of an advertising firm over the alleged unauthorized sale of medication to treat erectile dysfunction, reports Nikkan Sports (July 6).

Between April and October of last year, Kozo Kuwahata, a 41-year-old resident of Setagaya Ward, allegedly sold 39 tablets of three types of fake brand name drugs, including Viagra, without proper authorization via an internet site to three persons for 52,000 yen. The money for the fake drugs was transferred to an account in the name of a third party, police said.

Kuwahata, who has been accused of Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Law, admits to the unlicensed sale of the drugs but denies that the money went to the bank account of a third party.

The suspect is believed to have collected a total of about 900,000 yen from about 60 persons in sales dating back to 2014.

According to police, the fake drugs included pharmaceutical ingredients but they were not genuine products. Kuwahata said that he obtained the fake drugs from a foreign acquaintance.